Bharti Airtel rose 1.01% to Rs 335.50 at 13:31 IST on BSE after the company announced partnership with Government of Punjab to expand high speed 4G LTE services across the state.
The announcement was made during trading hours today, 9 December 2013.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 330.31 points, or 1.57%, to 21,326.84.
On BSE, 4.96 lakh shares were traded in the counter compared with average volume of 3.62 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 342.95 and a low of Rs 334.90 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 373.50 on 1 November 2013. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 266.95 on 5 April 2013.
The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 6 December 2013, sliding 6.56% compared with the Sensex's 0.49% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 5.93% as against Sensex's 8.96% rise.
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The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 1998.70 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.
Bharti Airtel said that it will invest over Rs 4000 crore in the Indian State of Punjab over the next 5 years to expand services and contribute to the Government of Punjab's digital inclusion agenda.
Airtel and the Government of Punjab signed an agreement on the sidelines of the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit, under which Airtel will take its high speed 4G LTE services to all towns and villages across Punjab, the company said in a statement.
Airtel launched Punjab's first 4G LTE services in Chandigarh Tri-City in March 2013, making it one of the first States in India to experience the world-class technology. As part of the agreement, the company will lay an additional 10,000 kilometre (km) of optic fiber across Punjab and expand its 4G footprint to cover most of the State's population over the next few years. This will provide a major boost to growth of broadband services in rural areas and enable delivery of services such e-governance, e-education, e-health and much more. In particular, it will provider fillip to the growth of the digital economy in the State and support businesses as well as the Government, the company added.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises said, "Airtel has been at the forefront of Punjab's telecom growth story and we are delighted to be a partner in Government of Punjab's vision to build a digitally inclusive State. Just like the mobile phone connected millions across Punjab, this high speed data connectivity initiative will further empower people with information and services available at the touch of a screen. I am confident that this initiative will make Punjab a model State for rest of the country."
In addition, Airtel will invest in its existing 2G mobile operations, Wire-line & DSL Broadband, DTH services, M-Commerce Services offering in the state. It will also expand its enterprise services offerings that provide end-to-end technology solutions to corporates and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it said.
Airtel launched mobile services in Punjab in 2002 and is the largest mobile operator in the State with over 7.2 million customers. Till date, it has invested over Rs 4800 crore in its operations in the state and its mobile network covers all 162 towns and 12,750 villages, reaching 94% of the population. The company's distribution network across Punjab spans 50,000 retailers and its operations provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to over 65,000 people across the State.
Bharti Airtel's consolidated net profit declined 29% to Rs 512 crore on 9.9% growth in net sales to Rs 21324.40 crore in Q2 September 2013 over Q2 September 2012.
Bharti Airtel is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 4 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 281 million customers across its operations at the end of October 2013.
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